The invention relates to wheelchairs, and, more specifically, to a wheelchair insert that permits toileting from the wheelchair.
People confined to a wheelchair due to paralysis, injury, or age have significant problems associated with using toileting facilities. These problems primarily result from their inability to transfer themselves to a toilet or support their own weight while a bedpan is placed underneath them. Traditionally, an attendant uses a special, manual technique or equipment to lift the person from the chair and lower them onto a toilet with siderails for support.
Special carts/chairs have been developed (U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,856,123 and 4,888,833) to permit a person to be placed over any toilet and not have to leave the cart/chair for toileting. However, these devices are not wheelchairs and, therefore, a person, if in a wheelchair, must still be transferred to the cart/chair prior to toileting.
To avoid having to lift a wheelchair-bound person, special wheelchairs have been designed to provide the person with the ability to remain in the chair for toileting. (See, e.g., U.S. Pat. Nos. 557,614; 1,691,620; 2,880,783; 3,245,090; 3,271,785; 4,007,959; 4,229,039; 4,296,506; 4,343,482; 4,593,929 and 4,713,848.) However, existing designs present a cleanliness problem. Also, due to the long periods spent in a wheelchair, special cushions, supported by a rigid seat attached to the chair frame, are used to prevent or reduce the incidence of sores and tissue damage. These cushions cannot be used with existing special wheelchair designs since a portion of the cushion and/or rigid seat must be removed for toileting.
A device for raising the person from the wheelchair seat to provide access for seat cushion and clothing removal, and to permit insertion of a specially designed bedpan would solve these problems. Such a device would not require the attendant to lift the person in the wheelchair, would prevent cleanliness problems, and would permit the use of special cushions.